Essays: Secretary Duncan

Empowered by up to $100 billion in economic-stimulus aid for education—and the support of President Barack Obama, whom he has long known—Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has pressed hard on such priorities as charter schools, teacher performance pay, common academic standards, and turnarounds of low-performing schools.

He has used his bully pulpit to assess blame for a K-12 system he sees as marred by mediocre student performance, dismal graduation rates in some cities, and stubborn achievement gaps between minority and white students.

Observers are now watching to see whether Mr. Duncan will succeed in codifying the administration’s agenda through the renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, last revised eight years ago as the No Child Left Behind law.